Police Grants Article

Ore. police receive trauma kits

SALEM, Ore. — In light of an incident in which Salem Police responded to a shooting in Benton County in August 2012, the Salem Police Department provided new trauma kits for all of their sworn officers at their regular Thursday morning briefing.

On Aug. 11, 2012, Salem Police officers assisted Benton County deputies as they tried to arrest an armed man who had run from a stolen vehicle. When police located him, he fired and injured two officers. One was severely injured after he was shot in the stomach. Salem Police officer Tyler Verhaar was carrying a personal trauma kit that allowed him to hold the injured officer and apply combat gauze to stop his bleeding.

At Breakfast with the Chief, a fundraising event held by the Salem Police Foundation in February of this year, the foundation raised $17,000 – enough to purchase trauma kits for every officer in the department.